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“Triangulation” as the strangulation of sound and principle thinking.

“Hillary Clinton is not half-baked in terms of her approach to these problems,” Obama said at a news conference at the White House. “But I also think there is a difference between running for president and being president.” –Mr. Obama is being extremely generous and gracious here; “half-baked” would be granting her plan too much credibility.

Let’s see what we have so far. One won’t allow a Muslim to be President; one (living only to Cruz to bruise) would shut-down the government, and defy the Supreme Court, if he does not get his way; another will round up all of the Mexican undocumented men, women and children (he describes as: drug dealers, rapist and murderers—yes all of them!) and ship them back to Mexico! And now we have the John McCain-Lindsey Graham school of international politics (let’s just arm anybody, and go to war with anybody!) inspired plan for creating war with Russia. This presidential campaign has opened the door to so much reckless posturing, racism, anti-immigrant “scape-goat” mongering, rank opportunism, and the most un-presidential positions imaginable being taken.

There must be a better way to select a person for what is one of the most important jobs in the world! Unfortunately this political theater (dare I say comedy), plays well to the vast don’t know, don’t want to know, “short answers” requiring public. The dishonesty of some politicians, and the intellectual laziness of journalist; to keep insisting that the more than a thousand (yes 1,000+!) of “Anti-Assad” groups fighting on the ground are easily and clearly divided into Islamic extremist; and those “pro-American” groups and fighters advocating for a democratic Syria. Nothing, could be more disingenuous and disconnected from the truth. And even further, the Ignoring of a major “fact on the ground”; that a primary factor in this conflict (A proxy war between Iran and Saudi Arabia) in Syria, is a centuries old war as to how to define Islam; and we should step into that?

The POTUS is correct to not go for this right-wing (and now HRC wing) fiction that we can just wade into what is both a complex and contradictory war zone, and magically make it right. Here Mr. Obama is taking the right approach: Stay focused on: (1) The removal of Assad; and (2) the degrading and destroying of ISIS. Unlike our “allies” in the region like Saudi Arabia and Turkey, who both prefer to fight the people who are effectively fighting ISIS!
Let Mr. Putin dig his own second Afghanistan. Russia’s last big adventure in the region ended really badly; with the loss of a great deal of money, credibility and the lives of a lot of young Russian soldiers (Estimates range from 33-38 thousand killed and approximately 35,000 wounded!) Let him overextend his material and military resources between Syria and the Ukraine, even as his national economy disintegrates; let’s see how that will work for him, after Russia is forced to ration Vodka!

Meanwhile back at home, we need a principled grownup like Bernie Sanders, Joe Biden or Elizabeth Warren to save us from having to make a choice between a Dumb and Dumber candidate for POTUS.